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Unified Equestria
__FORCETOC__ The Land Equestria is a vast land that covers three prominent mountain ranges, the Spindlewine range at its most westerly border, the Shinespire Peaks the tallest mountain of that range, The Shinespire, being the perch of Canterlot and the Windewall range making Equestria's most easterly border. It is a lush land of many climates ranging from dense forests to arid prairie lands. It has thousands of miles of coastline for it's southerly border. The north western border of Equestria shares the foothills of the Craggrok mountains with the border of the Gryphon Kingdoms. The northeastern border runs along the mysterious River Hemwiss. Harsh lands filled with dragons and other beasts lie on the northern banks of the river and farther to the east the wastelands begin. Equestria as a nation was founded shortly after the defeat of Discord. The ancestral homes of the three pony tribes had been lost in the chaos of the Millenium of Misery. Discord caused much damage to the land and only some of it could be restored. Originally, it was ruled by the three surviving Keepers, Celestia, Luna and the Evermind as a Triumvirate. In time, the Evermind stepped down, opting to work more in a supportive role and so the rule of Equestria fell to the Sisters Royal. Over the past two hundred years, Equestria has seen extensive expansion. Several new provinces and city-states have been annexed such as the city-state Stalliongrad, the territory Soverneigh, and the lands east of the Craggrok including the Forgotten Forest. A third pegasus city has been constructed, Galesina. It was the acquisition of Trottainia that extended the borders of Equestria to the Windewall. The new lands of the Forgotten Forest have been divided into the two territories of Craggrok and Aliwin which are both ruled over by Princess Cadence and Grand Duke Shining Armor. The province of Soverneigh, including the cities of Marelin, Flankfurt and Hoofenstien, is under the rule of Prince Blueblood and the Dutchess of Marelin. Trottainia is currently under the rule of the elderly Dutchess Aurora in the principal city Satu-Mare in the foothills of the Windewall. Government Equestria has spent the last thousand years as a Benevolent Monarchy in the absence of Princess Luna. With the successful exorsism of Nightmare Moon and the triumphant return of Luna, the government has once again reverted to a Benevolent Diarchy. The Rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, are immortal alicorns, thus why it is reffered to as a Benevolent Diarchy. There is no system of succession to the thrones as the they will be forever occupied by the original holders. Courts and Councils The main governing body of Equestria resides in the capital city Canterlot. This body consists of the Sisters Royal, the High Court, and the Great Court. The Great Court The Great Court is the lowest legislative court. It is made up of elected representatives of the cities and townships of Equestria, usually two or three from each. They act as a sort of parliament, they propose and vote on legistation that effects the nation as a whole. Members of the Great Court usually serve in four year terms and may be reelected as many times as they win the votes. If a Courtier is ever evicted by popular vote from his/her seat, they can never again run for election to the Great Court. The High Court The High Court is the highest legislative court. Delegates are chosen from wise elders of the tribes. Each tribe, the Earthponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns, have their own system for choosing delegates. Nominees are ratified by the Sisters Royal after an interview with the nominee. There are twenty delegates for each tribe at all times. Bringing the total number of delegates to sixty. The High Court reviews proposals penned by the Great Court before they are sent to the Sisters Royal to be made law. Sometimes they will reject poorly made proposals and send them back to the Great Court to try again, this requires a minimun third of the Court to vote it down. On occasion the High Court will propose laws themselves and send those to the Great Court for review. The Great Court also has the power to turn down a proposal made by the High Court, but must do so with a majority vote. Delegates of the High Court hold their seats for life unless evidence of abuse of their power is brought to the Sisters Royal. Expulsion fron the High Court is close to treason in severity and punishment. The delegate ejected is banished to the wilderness of the Windewall and no longer counted as a citizen of Equestria. If they attempt to return, they will be deposited, via spacial blinking (teleportation), to the desolate wastelands north of the Windewall. In essence, it is a death sentence. Their crimes and picture are published throughout the land and in other nations surrounding Equestria. Councils Large cities like Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Stalliongrad, Cloudsdale, and Los Pegasus serve as centers of city-states named after the principal city. In addition to having a City Council headed by a Mayor, they also house the State Council made up of representatives from the townships and villages of the surrounding area. These councils are primarilly responsible for drafting and implimenting local legislation and acting as the electoral college for candidates of the Great Court in Canterlot. Judiciary Councils Offenders of the law are put on trial and judged by a panel of their peers. Accusers and Deffenders are represented by lawyers who advocate for their clients. The jury must come to a decision on the case within a week of the conclusion of hearings. For difficult or especially grevious crimes, offenders will be taken to Canterlot and brought before the senior courtiers of the High Court. Again the case will be presented by professional lawyers, if the plantiff or defendant is too poor to afford a lawyer, one will be provided for them. In rare cases, the High Court may consult with the Sisters Royal. On cases that involve the misconduct of a politician or a trial for treason, the Sisters Royal will be directly involved from the beginning, from the hearings on down to passing final judgement. Society Synopsis Equestria has been a matriarchal society ever since its inception. This is due largely to the Diarchy being both female. There was a short time in which a very small Equestria was ruled by Celestia, Luna and the Evermind but the unpredictable nature of the Evermind's life cycle made his open rule unstable. Eventually, when the Evermind was allowed to fulfill his duties at his Library rather than openly, a male presence was no longer part of the ruling body. As the centuries passed, it became an accepted part of life that females were the ones to take charge of political persuits. Males play important roles, however. It is not unheard of to see a male politician but they tend to be few and far between. Etiquette Greetings and terms of address It is considered good form to greet another pony that one would see in passing ususally with an allusion to the time of day. Such as 'good morning/afternoon/evening'. Sometimes a simple 'hello' is sufficient. Greeting close friends and family members usually involves an embrace, whether it be crossing the necks and placing one's chin on the shoulder of the other or a locking of the forelimbs. This is usually followed by exclamations regarding the friend's travels. Often times one may hear thanks given to Celestia for their safe arrival. More recently, the ponies of Equestria have begun to thank Luna as well for travels safely completed in the night or if one arrives at moonrise. Greeting a female, whether the greeter is male or female, usually involves the respectfull address 'miss'. Calling a female a 'mare' is generally reserved for addressing one who is of an elligble age or a mother. It is considered polite to assume celibacy unless the contrary is obvious or pointed out by the one in question. Greeting a male, whether the greeter is male or female, usually involves the respectful address 'sir'. Calling a male a 'stallion' carries with it the connotation that one considers him of an elligble status or that he has a prominent position in society or is a father. As with females, it is considered to assume celibacy inless otherwise stated or observed. Generally, males are reffered to as 'colts'. When ammong other males, they will often refer to eachother as "geddy". Language The Spoken Languages High Equestrian was the original spoken language of Equestria and remained in use up until the Lunar Civil War. Currently, a pony versed in the reading and translation of High Equestrian is considered cultured and learned. Middle Equestrian is now the official spoken language, it is loosely based on the forms of High Equestrian but it has outmoded much of the vocabulary in favor of newer words. The vernacular language of Equestria is a simplified and expanded form of Middle Equestrian known as Commane. Commane is peculiar in that it harkens back to High Equestrian in construction and pronunciation, though it uses modernized versions of most words and a heafty addition of thousands of new words. The Written Languages The Written form of High Equestrian is still in use as the official writing of the Realm, though it has been modified to relfect changes in spoken Middle Equestrian. It is a character-based script comprised of letters that represent the vowel sounds. The way in which the letters are grouped indicates the consonant sound to accompany them. This makes it easy to misinterpret and actually gave rise to a literary technique that involved the purposeful grouping of awkward vowels to give the words a double meaning. Often times the primary interpretation was the opposite of the secondary, and one or both had to be read as lines in verse. Another form of writing has been in use for several centuries known as Cutieform. It was first developed by pegasi cartographers who were attempting to map the known world. In that day, not all ponies were educated in reading and for those who were, it was a skill rarely used. Writing was almost exclusively a unicorn art along with the keeping of records in general. The first maps the pegasi made were unsuccessful because they had to write High Equestrian very small in order for it to fit on the maps. This made reading them even harder and the text was more often than not read wrong. The pegasi came up with an clever solution: make the map explain itself. They developed a new, specialized art form that worked the names of locations and places into the illustration on the map. Over time these symols, which resembled hieroglyphs, had sounds and concepts attached to them. Eventually, the Sisters Royal commisioned scholars to standardize the hieroglyphs into a written language. During the standardization process, common forms of cutie marks were incorporated to expand the versatility of the language, thus it came ot be known as 'Cutieform'. Cutieform is somewhat unofficially the written language of Commane. It is primarrily a contextual means of conveying information. Any given symbol could have up to three meanings based on the context of how it is presented. Reading aloud from Cutieform is considered one of the vocal arts, as Cutieform is poetic in nature and it takes a poetic mind to interpret the context of the symbolism and deliver it in a pleasing way. This includes setting the meter and pace of the narration appropriately, while balancing volume of the voice with inflection and tone that illustrates the emotion envoked by the symbol or the narration as a whole. Systems of Measurement Currently, there is only one system of measurement in use by the common pony. The Aloric System came into being during the first century of the Triad Era. A need arose for a standardized form of measurement during the construction of Canterlot, Equestria's first city. Several forms were in use at the time as carryovers from the time before the Millenium of Misery and the three pony tribes had little contact with each other. A system was proposed that did not derive from any of the existing systems. The ponies chose to pay tribute to their patron Rulers. Distance Measures Thusly, the Aloric Lengths System follows: One smidgen is half of an inch. One inch is one ninth of a sceptre. 330 sceptres is a furlong. Six furlongs is a Canterlot mile (commonly referred to as simply a 'mile'). Eight furlongs is one country mile. Twelve Canterlot miles is one league. Ten country miles is one track. One sceptre is the length of Celestia's horn which would equate to roughly two feet in the US Customary System. The average mare stands, full grown, at one-and-a-half sceptres, and the average stallion at one-and-two-thirds sceptres. Celestia herself stands at three sceptres tall. The height of a pony is determined from the hoof to the shoulder. An intersting note on the physical differences between the ponified bronies and native ponies: The bronies tend to have slightly longer legs than the natives of Equestria. The average brony stallion stands at two sceptres and the average brony mare at maybe a few inches less than that. Dry and Liquid Measures Dry measures and liquid measures are derived from the displacement of Luna's front right hoof. One sip is an eigth of a step. Eight steps is a draw. Four draws is a canter. Eight canters is a barrel. One step is a few tablespoons over one cup in the US Customary. Unofficially, the term 'decanter' has been used by ponies to describe one half of a canter. Light Measures Measurements of light are also derived from Luna. The strength of light and the need to measure it has only become a need very recently as devices for providing lights have become more widely used. The base for this measurement comes from the light one sees on a clear Midwinter's Night, the longest night of the year. At this time, the moon is at its brightest. This is called a moonshine. The scale is graduated in shades of blue from navy blue to white. Time Ponies recon time thus: for the day, all hours are counted up from sunrise to sunset. The same is true for night time hours. This would make high noon the Sixth hour and sunset the Twelfth hour. They will refer to them simply as their ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) sometimes specifying day or night. The days of the week number six and are called, in order: Enha, Matrida, Kumula, Erda, Alkrida and Laena. The months number twelve and are called, in order: Matinaes, Enhanaes, Laenaes, Animaes, Mudanaes, Erdena, Alkrima, Miashaes, Ehamaes, Yalanaes, Olima, and Lyuda. Each month is exactly five full weeks long. Sometimes they refer to the days of a month by the week the day occurs in. For example: "The third Alkrida of Laenaes" would be the 16th day of Laenaes. The "third Alkrima" of every month will always be the 16th day of that month. Because the Sisters Royal maintain the rhythms of Sebbia, there is no fluctuation in the hours of the day or the days of the year. The only exception to this is the day of the Summer Sun and the night of the Midwinter Moon. The day of the Summer Sun lasts 14 hours, four days prior to that day, the sun stays in the sky an extra half hour every day untill the day of the Summer Sun where it stays a full 14 hours. The same happens for the build up to Midwinter Moon. This came about as a compromise between the two sisters when they first began to rule. A Note on the celestial bodies of immediate Sebbia: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The moon rises in the north and sets in the south.